15 May 2011

Thursday evening I arrived back at Casa Del Gumbo wrung out like a old dishrag. I was beat. I was hungry. I was ornery. In short, I was fit company for neither man nor beast. During my commute I was at a mild simmer, replaying some vexations from the day in the theater of my cranium. Stress and fatigue had ganged up on me.

When I stepped through the door I already had a few ideas for what I would post. All of them were heavy on the angst and Sturm und Drang of the typical metropolitan life as manifested in a nebbishy 40-something with too much time to think and not enough time to do. I was hoisting a big ol' steaming mug of cynicism topped off with the sprinkles of unfocused dissatisfaction. I was loaded for bear.

Good thing I looked outside my kitchen window. The side yard slopes down to a wooden gate to the backyard, and tucked into the corner of the fences is a wild rose bush. I pruned it earlier this year before it could put on too much new growth, and that must have inspired the bush to make the most of this spring.

It is blossoming, in a manner most enjoyable. I could see the bush frosted with pink roses. I immediately went back outside and down to the rosebush. The fragrance was faint but enticing. I leaned into a particularly showy flower and drew deep of breath. Oh, the aroma...the stress, the anxiety, the jaded fog in my head disappeared. It was...well, see for yourself, courtesy of my phone camera: